For the Geek in all of us

Review

Finally a Hero did not really work for me. It is a fascinating read, but the abrupt ending and tepid romance didn’t earn any brownie points from me. If Jesse’s struggle to become a good man and to put his past behind him hadn’t been so compelling, I don’t think I would have finished the book.

This is a series I would have completely missed out on if I hadn’t received an email from the publicist about it. Since I’m going through a fantasy phase, I thought I’d give it a shot, and I’m so glad I did. It’s a very fast read, I liked the protagonists immensely, and there’s enough court intrigue that it kept me guessing.

I purchased Rodeo Dreams from Harlequin.com back in December when they had a sale on eBooks. Silly me, I didn’t realize the hoops I would have to jump through to read the titles I purchased there on my Kindle. Unlike Amazon’s simple system for downloading purchased books, I had to download the Overdrive app, go through the hassle of setting up a new account because I used a different email address than the one I had used previously, and then I had to download each title, one by one. The whole process pissed me off, and I decided that even with a discount, it’s not worth buying direct from Harlequin. The books and the app were temporarily lost (I don’t use that Kindle very often, and yes, I collect Kindles like some people collect socks. It’s a terrible weakness of mine). Since I haven’t been feeling well this past week, I was looking for something different to read, and lo-and-behold! I remembered about all of those Harlequins sitting somewhere on a Kindle (somewhere!).

This is another Harlequin manga I purchased when it was on sale for .99. I currently have a sinus infection, feel awful, and can’t concentrate on anything for very long, so it looks like I’ll be reading manga and short category novels until I feel better. When I purchased Make-Believe Bride, I had never heard of either the original author or the manga-ka, but the price point is what hit the sweet spot. At less than a buck, I will purchase these all day long; my only problem is remembering to check the Harlequin manga selection on Amazon about once a week because the sale prices seem to rotate quickly through these titles.

I borrowed Her Knight in the Outback because I have enjoyed several Nikki Logan titles in the past. I enjoyed this one, too, but I wasn’t convinced that the protagonists will have a HEA. Eve is just so damaged and heart broken that it was difficult for me to believe that she would be able to successfully put all of her emotional distress in the past and give Marshall all of the attention he deserves.

I decided to borrow The Great Zoo of China from the library because it has dragons in a modern setting. The Chinese discovered a cave filled with dragon eggs 40 years before, and they have been secretly studying their new treasures, in addition to building a zoo to showcase them. In their intense competition with the US, the Chinese are seeking to create a vacation and pop culture behemoth to rival Disney World. If there are occasion setbacks, like when the dragons attack and eat their caregivers, well, that’s just an acceptable price to pay to finally bump the United States out of their position as the number one world leader.

I loved this book! It’s all about the horses, horses, horses! It’s also about July’s dysfunctional family, which is puttering along like a car in need of a tune up since her mother, a jockey, skipped the East Coast for California. While her mother is off chasing her dream of riding a winner, July has put her life on hold. She can’t forgive her mother, her father refuses to discuss the situation, and until there’s some kind of closure, Jules just can’t move forward. She loves riding and working with the horses, but she can’t focus on her future. Instead, she just keeps following the summer racing circuit with her dad, reading the racing dailies for any mention of her mother.

I really enjoy Cathy McDavid’s novels, so I’m a little puzzled why I haven’t read more of them. I like that her characters are every day people. There’s not a billionaire in sight, just ordinary folk working hard to get through each day and provide for their families. They could be my neighbors. They could be me. McDavid has a way of taking average problems and building them up into something that’s easy to relate to, and like Donna Alward, simple daily tasks become compelling efforts to better oneself and make the most of each protagonist’s strengths.